Here, finally, is my last report from Florence. We are now close to the end of June, travel-wise. As you may recall, we actually spent most of our last full day in Florence in Pisa. We picked up sandwiches from the Mercato Sant’Ambrogio that morning and took them with us for a casual picnic lunch. Dinner after we got back was casual as well: we picked up pizza from La Divina on Borgo Allegri. Why didn’t we eat in? Well, it was hot, we were tired and La Divina being located only about 50 feet from our door meant the pizza took only a slightly longer trip to our dining table than it would have to a table outside the restaurant. How was it? Read on. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Florence
Mercato Sant’Ambrogio (Florence, June 2023)
We spent most of our last full day in Florence not in Florence but in Pisa. It’s a fairly quick train ride and we decided to use up on one of our days in Florence on that visit and keep our upcoming days in the Tuscan countryside a little more relaxed. A good decision, on the whole, even if it meant punting on a few museum visits in Florence. Truth be told, with the kids, there’s a limit to how much museuming we can do on a trip anyway, and the previous day negotiating the crowds at the Uffizi and the Accademia had pretty much exhausted the adults’ energies and patience as well.
What was definitely a good decision was picking up a picnic lunch before departure for Pisa at the Mercato Sant’Ambrogio. Continue reading
Adagio (Florence, June 2023)
Here is an account of our last formal meal in Florence. We spent the next day in Pisa, packing a lunch of sandwiches from the excellent Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio near our flat. And for dinner that last night we did takeaway pizza. I’ll have reports on both the market and the pizza later but here now is a look at our dinner at Adagio the evening prior.
Though not quite as close as Ghianda or our pizza destination the next evening, Adagio was located only a very short walk from our flat—something we appreciated after a long day of museuming. We also appreciated that it was quite well-cooled (as you know, it’s been a very hot summer in Italy). It’s an interestingly shaped restaurant, with tables set in a narrow hallway as you enter and about halfway through. At the very end it opens into a wider, regulation dining room. We were seated at one of the tables about halfway through, with lots of natural light streaming in through the skylights. The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived, not too long after they opened, but filled up steadily as the evening went on. Having only eaten sandwiches for lunch (at Mercato Centrale), we were hungry and accordingly quickly got down to business. Continue reading
Shopping at Mercato Centrale
Last week I posted about our lunch at Mercato Centrale in Florence. That report was focused on the food options at the large market: some of which are located downstairs—where we ate—and most of which are located upstairs. Of course, Mercato Centrale is not just a food hall. The food counters, and especially the formal food hall upstairs, may be what attracts the tourists, but the ground floor houses a large and active market. At the front of the market are the salumi and cheese and pasta and dry goods sellers; but if you go a bit further in you’ll find the butchers, the fishmongers and the fruit and vegetable sellers. We wandered the market for a while after eating our sandwiches and pizza and here now is a look at that part of Mercato Centrale. Continue reading
Eating at Mercato Centrale (Florence, June 2023)
Our second full day in Florence involved art and crowds, usually at the same time. We visited the Uffizi galleries in the morning and the Accademia (which houses Michelangelo’s David) in the afternoon. It was quite a nightmare getting into the latter (though well worth it once inside). But I digress: this is about our lunch, which was eaten in between those visits at another very popular tourist destination in Florence: Il Mercato Centrale. It is located in the historic center, within easy walking distance from most of the sights you are likely to be visiting. Well, in late June the walk was made less easy by the heat, but the market itself is indoors once you get there—walking through rows of covered outdoor stalls selling various knick knacks—and reasonably well cooled. There are two levels. The ground floor is where the market proper is along with a few food counters. The main food section is upstairs and it was a zoo when we visited (and I assume this is usually the case in high tourist season). Accordingly, we ate downstairs instead, everything we wanted to eat being available there. What did we want to eat? Read on. Continue reading
La Cucina del Ghianda (Florence, June 2023)
It’s been almost ten days since I posted a report on our first meal out in Florence (at Acquacotta). I’d hoped to get this report on the second up last week but it’s been a hectic week on my program in Ireland, as we travelled from Dublin to Belfast for a week. Now that I’m almost set to return to Dublin (where the family have been chilling), here is that second report. It is of dinner at La Cucina del Ghianda, which was located mere steps from our flat on via dell’Agnollo. Not only was it conveniently located, it also came highly recommended from a few directions. And so I’d made a reservation (via Google) as soon as our dates were set, and we were very much looking forward to eating there. I am glad to report that it indeed turned out to be a very good meal. Continue reading
Trattoria Acquacotta (Florence, June 2023)
From Rome we travelled to Florence, and so will my restaurant reports. We arrived in Florence on a Sunday. This made dinner slightly complicated as a lot of restaurants in Florence are closed on Sunday. Our AirBnB host came to our rescue: she had recommendations for a number of restaurants in our general vicinity and among them was one that is actually open on Sundays: Trattoria Acquacotta. They are located a little outside the core tourist zone on Via dei Pilastri, right where it hits Via Fiesolana. Though keep in mind that Florence is much smaller than Rome, which means that if you’re visiting as a tourist, odds are good that everywhere you might want to go will be within walking distance. As it turned out, all the places we were to eat at were not only within walking distance, two were literally steps from our flat and a third was less than 5 minutes walk away. Acquacotta was far away by comparison, being about an 8 minute walk. I am happy to say that while it wasn’t the best restaurant meal we ate in Florence, it was well worth the walk. Continue reading